Dental implants have been known, and used, since at least the 1930's; see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,254 of Joel L. Rosenlicht. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,371 of Lars Jomeus which discusses the osseointegration method of integrating a dental implant into a patient's jaw. The disclosure of each of these patents is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
In applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,197, a dental implant having a cutting means is described and claimed; the disclosure of this patent is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
Another dental implant assembly is described in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,924, which discloses a "HEXAGONAL ABUTMENT IMPLANT SYSTEM".
Dental implants are moderately expensive. It often costs from about three to four thousand dollars to implant a tooth into a patient's mouth.
One of the reasons for this substantial cost is the multiplicity of steps required by the implant procedure. These prior art steps will be described below with reference to Nobelpharma catalog PRI 385 94.03 2nd edition (published by the Nobelpharma AB, Box 5190, S-402 26 Goteborg, Sweden).
In the first step of the prior art procedure, an implant or "fixture" is purchased; see, e.g., page 7 of the Nobelpharma catalog and the reference to the 3.75 mm and 4.0 mm titanium fixtures illustrated on such page.
The fixture so purchased must then be placed into an "instrument set for fixture placement", which is shown on page 22 of the Nobelpharma catalog.
Once the fixture is disposed in the "instrument set . . . ", a "fixture mount" is then attached to the fixture by means of a wrench and a screwdriver. The "fixture mount" devices are shown on page 22 of the Nobelpharma catalog. The instruments for fixture placement of the fixture are also shown on page 22 of the Nobelpharna catalog (see wrench part 17 and screwdriver part 19).
Thereafter, a "connection to contra-angle handpiece" (see part 11 on page 22 of the Nobelpharma catalog) is attached to a handpiece (see page 31 of the Nobelpharma catalog); and the implant assembly may then be driven into the jawbone of a patient.
Thereafter, the fixture mount is removed from the fixture. Thereafter, a cover screw (see page 9 of the Nobelpharma catalog) is inserted into the fixture. Thereafter, the surgical site is allowed to heal for from about 3 to about 6 months. See, e.g., Branemark/Zarb/Alberektsson: "Tissue Integrated Prostheses" (Quintessence Books, 1985).
After the healing period, the implant is exposed by surgical procedures, and the cover screw is removed. Thereafter, a healing abutment (see page 39 of the Nobelpharma catalog) is attached to the fixture. It generally is left in place for from about two to about three weeks, depending upon how the patient's tissue has healed.
Thereafter, the healing abutment is then removed, and a implant abutment is then attached to the fixture. The type of implant abutment to be used will depend on the requirements of the patient. Thus, e.g., and referring to pages 38 and 39 of the Nobelpharama catalog, one may standard abutment, and "EsthetiCone" abutment, a "CeraOne" abutment, a "Ball Attachment", an Angulated Abutment", and the like.
Thereafter, the desired prosthesis is formulated by conventional means. Once the prosthesis has been prepared, it is fitted to the patient's mouth secured to the implant.
It will be apparent that this prior art procedure requires a myriad number of prosthetic instruments and parts, many trips by the patient to the dentist, and a several surgical procedures. Not only is the process tedious and expensive, but each surgical procedure introduces a certain element of risk, pain, and suffering.
It is an object of this invention to provide an implant assembly for implanting a prosthesis in a patient's mouth which is substantially less expensive, stronger, safer to use, and less-time consuming to use than the prior art implant assemblies.
It is another object of this invention to provide an implant assembly which, after it is secured to the patient, is less likely to become disengaged therefrom.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an implant assembly which, after it is secured to the patient, provides substantially no opportunity for bacterial ingress within the assembly.